Beyond performance: why Wealth Management is becoming a family business
21 JUL, 2026
By Joanna Piwko from RankiaPro Europe
As the largest intergenerational wealth transfer in history gathers pace, the role of the wealth manager is undergoing a profound transformation.
RankiaPro Europe spoke with Christophe Lecoeur, Chief Executive Officer of COGES Corraterie Gestion SA, an independent Swiss wealth management firm and multi-family office founded in Geneva in 1984.
COGES is part of Groupe Eric Sturdza, alongside Banque Eric Sturdza and Eric Sturdza Asset Management, enabling clients to benefit from the synergies of leveraging the capabilities of the Group through accessing a comprehensive range of financial services – from banking and asset management to wealth management, providing them with 360-degree coverage of their needs.
The wealth transfer currently underway is often described as the largest in history. How is this changing the role of wealth managers?
For decades, wealth management was primarily centered around investment performance and portfolio construction. While these remain fundamental, today's reality extends far beyond financial markets.
We are witnessing an unprecedented transfer of wealth between generations, accompanied by the transmission of responsibility, values and family vision. Consequently, the role of wealth manager is evolving from that of an investment adviser to that of a trusted long-term partner helping families navigate increasingly complex matters such as governance, succession planning, philanthropy, education, multi-jurisdictional tax and estate planning.
At COGES Corraterie Gestion, we frequently advise several generations within the same family. Our role is not simply to manage assets, but to help ensure that wealth continues to serve the family's ambitions and purpose over the long term.
What are the biggest mistakes families make when preparing the next generation?
The most common mistake is delaying the conversation.
Many families devote decades to creating wealth, yet comparatively little time to preparing the next generation to understand, manage and ultimately preserve it. Wealth transfer is too often approached as a legal or tax exercise when, above all, it is a human one.
Because it is fundamentally human, it cannot be addressed through a single conversation or a one-off meeting: it requires an ongoing dialogue, ideally supported by experienced professionals who can accompany the family over time and help each generation engage with the right questions at the right stage of life.
Another frequent misconception is assuming that financial knowledge alone is sufficient. Future generations need to understand not only the assets they will inherit, but also the values, responsibilities and purpose attached to that wealth. Future generations need to understand not only the assets they will inherit, but also the family values and the responsibilities of the next generation regarding this wealth.
Families should also resist the temptation simply to replicate governance structures adopted elsewhere. While other families can provide valuable inspiration, every family is unique, with its own history, its own successes and failures, its own dynamics and ambitions. The most successful governance frameworks are those carefully tailored to each family's specific circumstances.
The earlier these conversations begin, the greater the likelihood of a successful transition.
How can wealth managers help preserve not only wealth, but also family unity and long-term vision?
Financial capital is important. Family capital is equally so.
In our experience, many of the greatest challenges arise not from investment decisions, but from differing expectations, communication gaps or the absence of a shared long-term vision.
This is where a trusted wealth manager brings real value. Before proposing solutions, our role is first to listen, understand and diagnose. Much like a trusted adviser who identifies challenges before they become problems, we help families recognise the issues they may not yet have considered — whether these relate to governance, succession planning, communication between generations or the transmission of shared values.
Only then can we help establish appropriate governance frameworks, organise family meetings and encourage constructive dialogue that enables different generations to build a common long-term vision.
Equally importantly, we work in close coordination with the family's existing advisers — lawyers, tax specialists, bankers, trustees and other trusted professionals. Our role is not to replace their expertise, but to complement it by helping ensure that all parties work towards a coherent long-term strategy centered on the family's objectives.
Ultimately, preserving wealth is not simply about generating returns. It is about preserving a shared sense of purpose that enables a family to remain united across generations.
At Groupe Eric Sturdza, this philosophy is deeply rooted in our own history. As a family-owned group, we understand first-hand the responsibility of preserving and transmitting wealth across generations. This creates a genuine alignment of interests with our clients. The Sturdza family remains invested alongside them and approaches wealth preservation with the same long-term mindset that we advocate every day.
We often summarise this philosophy in a simple principle: “We do for our clients what we do for ourselves.”
In our view, this alignment of interests, combined with trust, continuity and long-term thinking, provides one of the strongest foundations for preserving not only wealth, but also family unity and purpose across generations.
Are family offices becoming the new benchmark for high-net-worth client service?
In many respects, they are.
Family offices have raised expectations regarding personalisation, coordination and holistic advice. Clients increasingly expect a comprehensive approach that integrates investment management, succession planning, reporting, philanthropy and family governance.
In other words, they no longer think in terms of isolated products or transactions, but rather of a single, coherent strategy extending across generations.
However, not every family requires a dedicated family office structure. Setting up and running one demands significant scale, cost and governance. For many families, the same objectives can be achieved more efficiently through a trusted external partner.
What clients are really seeking is the same level of strategic thinking, a highly individual service and continuity of relationship. Independent wealth managers are particularly well positioned to deliver that level of attention remaining agile while providing highly bespoke advice.
Rather than replacing a family's existing professional advisers, they coordinate closely with them, bringing together lawyers, tax advisers, private bankers and other specialists around a common long-term vision and ensuring that each area of expertise contributes effectively to the family's overall objectives.
Ultimately, the future of wealth management is likely to become increasingly family-office inspired, regardless of organisational structure. The benchmark is no longer the office itself, but the mindset: holistic, bespoke, multi-generational and built on trust.
How is Corraterie Gestion adapting its offering to support multi-generational wealth?
Supporting families across generations has become a central pillar of our approach.
What distinguishes our role is not simply the management of financial assets, but our ability to understand the family behind the wealth. Every family has its own history, entrepreneurial culture, aspirations and sensitivities. Before discussing investment solutions, we invest time in understanding these dimensions, because they often determine the success of decisions made years later.
Our advisers bring together decades of experience working alongside entrepreneurs, business-owning families and international private clients. This experience enables us not only to respond to existing needs, but also to anticipate future challenges and identify opportunities or risks that families may not yet have considered.
Many of the situations we encounter require far more than investment expertise. They involve succession planning, governance, cross-border wealth, family dynamics and the coordination of multiple trusted advisers. One of our key strengths lies in bringing these different perspectives together, ensuring that legal, tax, banking and investment considerations all support a coherent long-term strategy.
As part of the Groupe Eric Sturdza, we combine the independence, agility and proximity of a boutique wealth manager with access to a broader ecosystem of expertise spanning private banking, asset management and wealth structuring.
Ultimately, we see our role as helping families make better long-term decisions—not only when important events occur, but often before they recognise that change is needed. Our ambition is to become a trusted source of perspective, bringing clarity to complexity and helping families preserve not only their wealth, but also the purpose and values that give it meaning.
Our value does not lie in having all the answers. It lies in helping families ask the right questions before circumstances force them to.
